There is a huge amount of affection in Britain for Marks & Spencer and its flagship Marble Arch store on Oxford Street. When I visited London from the south coast as a child during the holidays it was a wondrous experience, as it should still be for the millions of visitors from across the British Isles and overseas.
The Arch, as the store was known to staff, with its art deco limestone curved walls and striking bronze windows, stood proudly next to the beautiful Ionic columns and luxury shops of Selfridges.
Relatives from the United States and Israel arrived at my home with empty suitcases ready for their large store.
At its peak, Oxford Street was a celebration of lights and beautiful shop windows. I remember the excitement of climbing up and down the wooden escalators of major stores including House of Fraser, Debenhams, John Lewis and the now forgotten Thomas Wallis, which was part of a national chain of department stores founded by the grandfather of my wife, Maurice Lermon.
Most are now gone, replaced by fast fashion stores and some maverick candy stores.
Flagship: The Marks & Spencer store, known as The Arch, is impressive, but looks can be deceiving
Britain’s most famous shopping street is in the midst of a much-needed transformation. Some 17 locations have been given permission for demolition and 42 shops, or 16 percent of the total, are vacant.
In March 2021, the management team of a revived M&S, where Stuart Machin is co-chief executive officer, announced plans to close the Marble Arch store and replace it with a modern glass and steel structure with offices on the upper floors.
I considered this an act of commercial vandalism. I took all the talk about there being no choice but demolition – amid stories of asbestos and air conditioning nightmares – as the usual corporate chatter.
So when Communities Secretary Michael Gove rejected the M&S development plan approved by Westminster City Council in May 2023, I cheered from the rooftops.
However, I have since stood on the roof with M&S executives and personally witnessed the ugly hodgepodge of buildings that make up the complex. I have seen the difficulties of access and wasted space in prime real estate in London’s West End.
And I changed my mind. I was wrong and I recognize it now. So should Gove.
My tour of the site started with the exterior. Far from being one coherent building, the store is made up of three separate structures, all on different levels, connected by tricky walkways and tunnels. The delivery platform is in the center of a shabby quadrangle which, under the new plans, would become a piazza with outdoor seating and an M&S deli and cafe.
Back inside we started in the food hall. The doors must be left open for ventilation. The air conditioning is defective and cannot be repaired. In winter, an icy explosion greets shoppers. In the summer it’s like a sauna. The store had to import 40 freestanding air conditioners.
We go upstairs through a labyrinth of corridors and warehouses. Racks of valuable clothing are stored in damp conditions with leaking overhead lines that require constant maintenance.
On the second floor, in the children’s clothing department, store managers are experiencing serious display problems due to the large, ugly structural pillars.
The elegant new Jaeger series are on display in the women’s clothing on the third floor. Customers have no idea of the leaking sewers, asbestos, hanging wires and exposed pipes behind the scenes. On the upper floors, on what could be valuable floor space, sits a load of abandoned industrial equipment. There are generators that are not working and large air conditioners that are no longer working.
Vision: Stuart Machin, co-CEO of Marks & Spencer
Some of these relics, says operations director Sacha Berendji, ‘belong in a science museum, not M&S’.
He tells me, “We have seven floors, but can only trade four. The higher you go, the warmer it gets.’
As manager of The Arch, no one has understood The Arch’s shortcomings better than Berendji for ten years.
It’s still the highest-turning store in the group, but it’s 45 percent bigger than a recently opened branch in Birmingham and 35 percent bigger than the main branch in Liverpool, so it doesn’t carry much weight.
Would it be possible to keep the Art Deco fascia and build on it behind it? Yes, but only at prohibitive costs. M&S is seeking a judicial review of the Gove decision amid rising costs.
The current plan will cost more than £200 million, before sacrificing revenues are taken into account, and will take four years to complete.
The company is already exploring alternatives, such as a 30,000 sq ft food store in Mayfair and moving exclusive clothing lines – only seen at The Arch – to the Pantheon store further down Oxford Street, which is experiencing a renaissance due to the company’s presence Elizabeth Line station. close to.
The Arch needs a total rebuild. There is enthusiasm for creating a new emblematic store that pays tribute to M&S’s rich history.
A brand new building will help restore Oxford Street to its former glory.
Misplaced nostalgia should not get in the way.
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